Improvements on the way at Harrisburg train station

(Harrisburg) —  Plans to improve the Amtrak Station in Harrisburg are getting a boost from the state.

Some $15 million in state and federal funding will be used at the Harrisburg Transportation Center and those dollars could eventually increase to between $50 million and $60 million.

Governor Tom Wolf says the investment will benefit the entire region.

“This is going to become a generator of new jobs, new economic activity and it’s going to make the formum of the city more important and more relevant,” he says. “People are going to be able to use this as a convenient place to start from, to get on the train, to just walk across the street, get on the train and be in places all around this country.”

PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards says the improvements will not only benefit the traveling public, but will also help to spur further development in downtown Harrisburg.

“We at PennDOT are working hard on all modes of transportation,” she says. “This is just the first step in making sure we make investments that will make this an economic, healthy place in Harrisburg and we will be successful in doing so.”

More than 1.6  million train and bus passengers use the center every year.

Most of them use Amtrak’s Keystone Service which provides daily round trips between Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York City.